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Dear Discipleship-first Friends,
Anthony Walker has been a minister at the Highway 231 Church of Christ in Murfreesboro, Tennessee for 17 years. In our most recent Disciple Maker’s Podcast, Anthony sheds light on the importance of shifting from merely making Christians to genuinely making disciples. Walker also shares the wisdom he has accumulated over the years about the importance of discipline in being and making disciples and the role of habits in sustaining a fruitful spiritual journey. This strategy encourages an understanding of discipleship as a constant journey of learning and following Christ. This paradigm shift emphasizes the need for continual growth in faith--a process of spiritual evolution in which we are always learning, always following, and yet never fully arriving.
From Making Christians to Making Disciples
So, what exactly is the difference between making Christians and making disciples? In a recent Disciple Makers Podcast episode, Anthony shared his journey toward this very understanding. He shared that early in his ministry, he was motivated by the idea of "making Christians," and his focus was primarily on baptizing more and more people in an attempt to increase the number of “Christians.” However, a sermon on the Great Commission drastically shifted his perspective. He began to understand for the first time that Scripture emphasizes "making disciples," not just Christians. Anthony acknowledged his need to prioritize disciple making over merely baptizing people. Disciple making became his primary focus, which in turn influenced his ministry tactics and language.
Growing in Disciple Making
A crucial step in the journey toward understanding what it means to become a disciple maker is accepting that it is inherently a learning process. Anthony uses a phrase in his teachings, "A disciple learns to follow, follows to learn, but never arrives." This demonstrates the concept that being and making disciples is a continuous learning and following journey. It also reminds disciples that they never fully arrive at complete knowledge or perfection in their faith.
Moreover, this concept of "learning to follow" emphasizes the importance of obedience. When following Christ, we, as disciples, must be willing to put aside our personal ideas and be willing to follow Jesus’ teachings. Then, as we continue to follow Christ, we begin to understand that “learning to follow’ involves learning more about Jesus’ ways, Jesus’ teachings, and how we can and should deal with life circumstances in the same way that Jesus dealt with them.
Shifting to Disciple Making in Ministry
Anthony emphasized how a significant paradigm shift from making Christians to making disciples can impact an entire ministry. He stated that when we shift the focus to making disciples, rather than just making Christians we begin to see disciples who better understand the context and significance of their faith practices and that then results in a deepening in their commitment to becoming more like Jesus by embodying His behaviors and principles.
Ultimately, there is a need for continuous learning, regardless of whether someone has been a disciple of Jesus for 1 year or 50 years. This reinforces the concept that being a disciple of Jesus is a lifelong journey of learning and growing in faith. Focusing on making disciples requires humility, openness, and a willingness to learn, even in the most seasoned disciples. It's important to understand disciple making as a process rather than an endpoint. This not only has profound implications for individual faith journeys but also for the collective mission of making disciples within our churches, ultimately bringing us closer to the faith journey that Jesus Christ laid out for us.
Listen to the entire podcast here!
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